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The Rudd government wants housing estate developers to put in fibre-to-house cable as standard on new housing
Federal Minister of Broadband Stephen Conroy has announced a desire to make sure all new housing developments install fibre-to-home (FTH) technology as standard from July next year.
“The Government wants to ensure that more new property estates are serviced by super-fast broadband,” Conroy said today. “Super-fast broadband will revolutionise the way we do business and live our lives. It makes sense that our latest property developments are equipped with the latest broadband technology.”
The idea of FTH in new greenfield estates was announced in April as part of the National Broadband Network. FTH delivers broadband services with speeds up to 100 megabits per second.
“There is evidence that the installation of Fibre-to-the-Premises technology increases the value of homes in greenfield estates,” said Conroy. “In the US, a Fibre-to-Home Council survey found that a direct fibre connection adds more than US$5000 to the value of a home. “It is counter-productive to have our newest homes and businesses not using the most advanced broadband technology. This practice will lead to higher costs when copper wires need to be replaced by fibre.”
A number of local governments around Australia are already using their planning powers to encourage the rollout of FTH in new greenfield estates.
The Government is seeking feedback from stakeholders on its proposed approach to this issue by 12 June 2009. A consultation paper is available online at www.dbcde.gov.au/nationalbroadbandnetwork
